11/20/15

Mindful eating part III: Indulge responsibly tips

I've spent the last two blogs talking about mindful eating. And I'm not done yet. I still have part IV to combine everything together so that you, the athlete, can fully understand where I am coming from as it relates to your health, performance and body composition goals.

First off, I invite you to read THIS ARTICLE to help you improve your relationship with food.

As promised, here are a few simple tips to help you practice mindful eating. Whereas the above article (link) can help with improving your relationship with food, the below tips are specific to when you indulge. Most people do not have an unhealthy relationship with food they term healthy and feel good when eating is under control. The food mind games likely occur when you indulge, eat something you term "off limit" or feel "off track" with your eating.
(Be sure to practice these tips throughout the holiday season when you will be presented with more treats than normal.)

Before indulging, ask yourself why you are indulging? Are you stressed, bored, upset, famished? It is important to have a purpose and a reason when you eat - from carrot cake to carrots. There is always a time for everything so just make sure that you feel good about what you eat, when you eat it. An important rule of mindful eating is that you should never say "I shouldn't be eating this" when you are eating something.

Many athletes struggle with eating in the evening in that this is the time when cravings hit full force or hunger is hard to tame. Always honor your biological hunger.Because we want to avoid the negative thoughts associated with eating/food which may affect how you exercise/train and eat the next day, tell yourself that when you wake-up in the morning, you should never regret what you ate the night before. Own-up to your food choices. If you are going to eat something at or between dinner and bedtime, feel great about it (don't hate yourself for it the next morning). This tip is so powerful.

Ask yourself how much you need to eat of your treat before that treat is no longer appealing (or feels good inside your tummy). If you can't resist the indulgence, or you have a great reason to indulge, aim to eat up to 4 savory bites of your treat. You pick the size. Excite your taste buds with every bite and be sure to make the bites count (it's no fun to indulge in something that neutrally appeals to you). Sometimes we can satisfy a craving in just one bite whereas other times, a few more bites are needed to create happiness in the tummy.I need at least 3-4 bites of a cinnamon roll, banana bread or carrot cake but I am good with one bite of a cookie or piece of cake (I give the rest to Karel) to feel happy inside my tummy.

Relax. It's OK to indulge and to eat for pleasure every now and then. But first, consider what you eat most of the time and what you eat on occasion. If your office brings in store-bought cookies or pastries every day, and you eat cookies or pastries every day, guess what will happen on a special occasion when you are presented with cookies or pastries? That special occasion cookie or pastry is not as special because Friday office cookies or pastries are your norm.

Choose your indulgences wisely.

Trust yourself. Many times, athletes can afford to indulge every now and then without any negative side-effects. But you have to trust yourself when you indulge. If you have a dieting mentality, you may find yourself using your next workout as the first opportunity to "burn off" those calories or restricting calories the next time you eat. With an unhealthy relationship with food, you may even sabotage your next few workouts as a result of food restriction or overexercising. It's time to avoid food rules, to stop an all-or-nothing approach to what you eat (or don't eat) and to stop eating with shame, guilt or anxiety. If you feel you can't work on this by yourself, consult a professional who can help.

-Have your cake and eat it too!

The opposite of dieting is mindful eating. There is no right or wrong way to eat. It's time to renew your relationship with food. You pick the right times to indulge.

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Welcome to Trimarni!

The Trimarni mission is to help athletes reach performance goals without compromising health.
Marni has a great understanding of physiology of the human body during exercise and how food affects a body in motion.
She focuses her time helping triathletes and runners learn how to maximize fitness while keeping the body in good health. Marni is well educated in the areas of sport nutrition (for training and racing) and triathlon coaching, exercise physiology and strength training, for athletes of all fitness levels. She specializes in endurance training and sport nutrition, with a great understanding of the metabolic, immune and hormonal stress that occurs when training for a long distance event. Behind every great athlete is a well planned diet - she also helps athletes create great daily nutrition habits to support consistent training.
Marni is passionate about helping athletes train smarter in order to reach performance, body composition and health goals faster.
Karel is an experienced RETUL bike fitter and bike mechanic and is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to all things bikes and cycling.
Marni and Karel coach a team of triathletes alongside providing services to triathletes, cyclists and runners.

About us

Marni holds a Master of Science in Exercise Physiology and she is a Board Certified Sport Dietitian who specializes in coaching and sport nutrition for endurance athletes. Marni is passionate about helping athletes of all levels learn how to fuel and eat to maximize performance, while keeping the body healthy. She is a 11x Ironman finisher including 4 Ironman World Championship finishes. In, 2015, Karel and Marni both competed in the 2015 IM World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. Marni holds an Ironman PR of 10:06 (2016 Ironman Austria), where she had the fastest overall female swim time (57.06) and placed 2nd AG (30-34), finishing fastest amateur female American and 4th amateur female (10th overall female). Marni is a well-known writer and contributes frequently to Ironman, Triathlete Mag, USAT and can be found quoted in other publications like Runner's World, Shape, Women's Running, Fitness and Men's Health. Marni is enjoys public speaking and working one-on-one with athletes at camps and clinics. Marni is a long-time lacto-ovo vegetarian (since the age of 10) as she loves animals.

Karel is an accomplished Cat 1 cyclist turned Ironman triathlete. He was the former general manager of the Trek Bicycle store in Jacksonville, FL and now works at Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition as a coach and RETUL bike fit expert. Karel has successfully completed 6 Ironman distance triathlons and has qualified for the Ironman World Championship twice (in 2014 at IMWI and in 2016 at IMMT). He holds an Ironman PR of 9:13 (2016 IM Austria) and at 2016 Ironman Mont Tremblant, he clocked the fastest amateur male run split (3:08) of the day.

When Marni and Karel are not working, they can be found cooking/eating, exploring Greenville, SC or spending time with their four-legged furry child Campy.